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Welcome to our second article in the series of posts ‘Flowers in Casa de Campo’, an insight into the many different types of plants found across the Casa de Campo complex. Today we bring you the Jade Vine.
Few people might consider the Jade Vine a beautiful flower, but they do agree that it is one of the most exotic and interesting.
With its long cascading translucent jade-green flowers beneath a canopy of pale green foliage, the jade vine is one of the most beautiful and elegant of all tropical climbers. It comes from the rainforests of the Philippines and is a member of the same family as peas and beans, also closely related to the kidney bean and runner bean group.
Here in Casa, we’ve spotted the Jade Vine used ornamentally to adorn entranceways to villas.
Jade Vine
- The hanging collections of its flowers grow up 90cm long, and their bright color attracts pollinating bats at twilight.
- the plant produces fruit that grows up to the size of a melon.
- There are about 20 species of Strongylodon, all of them native to Southeast Asia and throughout the South Pacific.
- In their native environment, many species of Strongylodon are endangered due to habitat destruction, so there is a dedicated effort among the world’s botanical gardens to preserve these magnificent plants.
This is the fourth article of our series “Flowers in Casa de Campo”, in future articles you can look forward to reading about: the Mantequilla, the “Tu y Yo”, the Ginger and many more!
* This article was written by former collaborator Daniela Medina